3904-47th Avenue S., Seattle, Washington 09119
Two events that are of particular interest to antique engine
miscellany were held in the Pacific Northwest in August. The
‘Puget Sound Live Steamers’ held their annual steam-up at
the Puget Sound port of La Conner, Washington.
This community is reminiscent of the coastal towns along the New
England coast, with its attraction for tourists to visit the
antique shops and learn of the activities of the artists and
writers in the vicinity.
Pugest Sound Live Steamers has an assortment of steam and
gasoline engine enthusiasts who enjoy building their own steam
boats, live steam locomotives, model steam and gasoline engines,
traction engines and with a good show of restored putt-putt gas
engines on display to break the monotony of the swish-swish
operation of the little steam rigs.
This was a two day event with the Swinomish Tribal Council
salmon barbecue as a highlight of the reunion, gastronomically
speaking, which was climaxed by a barn dance.
The other big event was held at Brooks, Oregon which is about
eight miles North of Salem. This is the ‘Great Oregon
Steam-Up’ and the safety valve to relieve the buildup of the
spirited ‘Steam Fiends’ and gasoline engine buffs from
Washington to California. From reports, this was a bigger and
better show than ever seen in these states.
HELP! Briggs & Stratton Corporation of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
has suggested that I contact you about a motor scooter or wheel
which I own. It has a Briggs & Stratton motor, Serial No. SD368
– the company has informed me that production of this unit was
discontinued in 1920.
Can you give me any information about the value, age, etc.?
A copy of Gas Engine Mike’s book entitled ‘A History of
Gas Engines and Manufacturers Names’ has been received through
the courtesy of Ruben Michelson of Anamoose, North Dakota 58710. It
is astonishing to see the hundreds of names of the gasoline engine
builders that Ruben has assembled in his book. It would take a
lifetime to write the history of all these gasoline engines.
An unusual innovation of the ordinary cooling water hopper
system used on gasoline engines was developed by the Aermotor
Company of Chicago. This company was established in 1888 for the
sale of their patented hay tools and other equipment of their
design. From the profits of their first adventure, their
resourceful engineers solved other problems of the farmers by
designing and building one of the most popular windmills, the
‘Aermotor.’
From catalogs of Roger Kriebel of Mainland, Pennsylvania – of
this company, this history of the company was one of continued
success. Not only was the windmill used for pumping well water, but
it was also developed to apply windmill power to other mechanical
applications, such as grinding grain, sawing wood and other power
requirements in isolated places.
Their president, Mr. L.N. Noyes, had a policy of only building
the very best product their company could devise and follow them to
the customer with best of service.
As with all windmills, there was a time when some type of
auxiliary power was needed for the calm weather, when there was no
wind.
Their requirement for big auxiliary power units was not
necessary for their applications so the company built a selection
of gasoline engines having ratings of 2-1/2 and 5 HP.
Some of the Aermotor engines appeared as other closed
water-jacketed machines. Their exclusive feature was the fluted
hopper cooler. This hopper stood on top of the cylinder with a
flange fastened to an opening in the water jacket. The fluted
hopper was made of thin metal to dissipate heat rapidly and cool
the engine water. They were horizontal, single cylinder, four
cycle, open crankcase machines. They were built on a low cast iron
base with the cylinder attached by parallel flanges along each side
and it was set half way into the base. The crankcase was cut away
in front to allow the crank to turn in the low mounting.
The governor was built on the timing gear and operated a pushrod
along the side of the engine to open the mechanical exhaust valve.
The intake valve was automatic. The valves were located in the
water-cooled cylinder head.
The igniter was located in the side of the cylinder and was
tripped by a lever on the exhaust valve pushrod. The mixing valve
was located on the side of the cylinder head, while the exhaust
opening was on the opposite side with a muffler in a vertical
position. Battery ignition system was standard with batteries and
coil, however a Webster magneto could be supplied.
The specifications of the Aermotors are as follows:
HP | BORE & STROKE IN. | R.P.M. | FLYWHEEL DIA. IN. | WEIGHT | PRICE |
2-1/2 | 4-1/8 X 6 | 400 | 24 | 600 | $105.00 |
5 | 5X7-1/2 | 360 | 30 | 1000 | $163.00 |
Mageneto was $12.00 additional. Standard back-geared pumping
units were built having a capacity of 16,000 gallons per hour at 10
foot head or 630 gallons per hour at 250 foot head.
From the Broken Kettle Book Service is a single sheet of an
illustration and specifications of the Nash Gas Engine, which was
manufactured by the National Meter Company of New York. This is an
example of one of the early gasoline engine designs. As can be seen
from an accompanying picture, it is a vertical single cylinder
machine with closed crankcase and cylinder. It is difficult to
determine whether it is two or four cycle, but judging from the
enclosed column in front of the cylinder which could contain the
valve pushrods, it would appear to be a four cycle.
Possible, C.W. Nash, at one time President of General Motors
Corporation, may have been an offspring of L.H. Nash, who patented
gas engines as early as 1883, and has many other patents credited
to his name up until 1897.
The specifications of the Nash gas engine are as follows:
NO. | CYLINDER | FLYWHEEL | BR.HP. | WEIGHT | |
31 | 3X4 | 18 | 350 | 1/2 | 375 |
32 | 4X4-1/2 | 20 | 325 | 1 | 475 |
33 | 5X5 | 22 | 300 | 2 | 600 |
34 | 6-1/2X6-1/2 | 28 | 300 | 4 | 1325 |
The Middleton Machine Company of Middleton, Ohio is responsible
for a line of gasoline engines with a catchy name of the
‘Woodpecker’. This company also built engines under the
name of ‘Howe’, also ‘Miami’ and
‘Middleton.’
From Catalog No. 101 as supplied from the library of Roger
Kriebel, these engines were built about 1908 to 1910. This company
started building engines about 1895. Their trademark was arranged
with the word ‘Woodpecker’ in a segment of a circle with
the large letter ‘P’ in the middle of the segment, as if
holding up the other letters. On the vertical portion of the letter
‘P’ was a picture of a woodpecker and in underneath across
the bottom of the trademark were the words ‘Middleton, Ohio,
U.S.A. The color scheme was not shown.
This company built the following models of engines: ‘L’
– ‘KS’ -‘KB’ – ‘KBB’ – ‘A’ – and
‘KP’ and in ratings of from 2 to 50 HP.
In general, these engines were built in a one piece casting. The
small 2 HP unit was all in one casting, with the open crankcase and
the main bearing shells cast-on. It was a horizontal, single
cylinder, four cycle, water hopper cooled machine.
The valves were in the cylinder head with a mechanical exhaust
and an automatic intake. The cam on the timing gear actuated the
exhaust valve pushrod. The governor was a hit and miss system and
the mixing valve was simple needle control with air adjustment.
This small 2 HP Type ‘KBB’ ran at 500 RPM and weighed 300
pounds.
Type K. S. Hopper Cooled, Steel Girder Sub-base
The type ‘KS’ was built in ratings of 3 to 25 HP and was
a one piece construction. The cylinder and base was in one casting
with water-cooled head containing the valves. The head had a
recessed flange fitted into the cylinder bore about one quarter of
an inch. The cooling water hopper was cast with the cylinder.
Standard engines were shipped on wooden skids. Portable units
were on steel trucks for horse drawn transportation, in ratings of
15, 20 and 25 HP. Hand truck units were built in sizes of 2 and 3 H
P in Types of ‘KBB’ and 4 HP in Type ‘PKS’.
The hit and miss governor is mounted on the side of the timing
gear and is a two ball centrifugal action with an electrical
contact on one of the weights to advance and retard the spark
automatically. A cam lever operated by the governor cuts out the
ignition on the idle stroke and holds open the exhaust valve.
The crankshaft was made from one piece of steel and finished and
ground to size. On the larger ratings, a tapered flywheel bore was
used to fit the wheels to the shaft.
The plunger fuel pump mounted on the side of the base is
operated by an eccentric from the crankshaft drive gear. The mixing
valve was made by Lukenheimer with a needle full adjustment and an
air intake. Fuel is pumped to a reservoir on top of the cylinder
and fed by gravity to the mixing valve. There is an overflow back
to the main fuel tank. There were modifications of the fuel system
on smaller engines in which the gas tank was in the engines base,
and the mixing valve located low to use and suction to the
intake.
A Woodpecker’s exclusive feature is a speed regulator on the
exhaust valve pushrod shaped like an inverted ‘L’ (7) which
comes in contact with a V shaped rocker that is spring loaded and
has an electrical contact that cuts out ignition on the idle
strokes of the hit and miss governor. This fitting also holds open
the exhaust valve.
Two ignition methods were available for these engines. Either a
low tension magneto with a make and break igniter, or a high
tension system with a magneto and a spark plug was used.
Woodpecker engines were advertised as being equipped with
electric starting. The system consisted of a fuel priming cup in
the cylinder head. An electric contact button was on the side of
the cylinder, which when pressed created a spark on the ignition
point in the combustion space. The method of starting was to prime
the engine with a priming cup full of fuel, then pull the flywheel
back against compression. This caused the first explosion and
started engine.
Their method was similar to the old detonator system used on
other makes by using a match to cause the first explosion.
Combination pumpers, wood saw outfits and orchard sprayers were
assembled with these engines at the factory.
Several models of engines built by Middleton Machine Company
were sold under the trade name of ‘Miami’. They were
horizontal, single cylinder, closed water jacket with a full cast
iron sub-base. They could be had with a closed water jacket or
hopper cooling.
A gravity fuel system with a mixing valve on top of the cylinder
and the fuel tank was supported from brackets fastened to the top
of the water hopper.
There was a modification on the governor with a lever in contact
with the cam gear that held open the exhaust valve on the side of
the cylinder head on the 4 HP engine. On the larger ratings, the
valves were in the cylinder head.
The specifications of the Woodpecker, Type ‘L’ engines
with water hopper or tank cooled were:
HP | RPM | EXHAUST PIPE-IN. | WEIGHT |
2 | 400 | 1-1/4 | 575 |
4 | 400 | 1-1/2 | 775 |
6 | 373 | 2 | 1250 |
8 | 335 | 2 | 1590 |
12 | 275 | 2-1/2 | 2400 |
15 | 225 | 2-1/2 | 2950 |
TYPE ‘KBB’ | |||
2 | 600 | 250 | |
3 | 500 | 350 | |
4 | 400 | 500 | |
6 | 373 | 1000 |
TYPE ‘KB’ | |||
3 | 500 | 650 | |
4 | 400 | 900 | |
6 | 375 | 1300 | |
8 | 335 | 1700 | |
10 | 300 | 2100 | |
12 | 300 | 2800 | |
15 | 265 | 3100 | |
20 | 250 | 5600 | |
25 | 250 | 6000 |
The Woodpecker Type ‘A’ engine was built about
1910-1912. It was a heavy duty, single cylinder, horizontal, four
cycle engine with closed water jacket. It was built on a low cast
iron base with an open crankcase.
This model was a side shaft engine. A worm gear drive on the
crankshaft drove the shaft, which in turn operated the valve rocker
arms from cams and also drove the governor. The rocker arms were
fitted with hardened steel rollers where they came in contact with
the cams. Valves were in cages and removable for servicing
Combination mixing valve that permitted the use of liquid fuel
or gas was a standard fitting. Fuel types could be changed from one
to the other while the engine was in operation.
A balanced centrifugal governor was a feature of this Model
‘A’. It was a hit and miss system that acted on the fuel
valve instead of holding open the exhaust valve and cutting out
ignition.
Middleton Machine Company offered a fuel consumption guarantee
with these engines that called for a fuel consumption of not more
than one pint per horsepower hour per brake horsepower.
Specifications of the Type ‘A’ engine are as
follows:
HP | RPM | WEIGHT |
6 | 325 | 2000 |
8 | 310 | 2500 |
11 | 285 | 3000 |
13 | 285 | 3400 |
15 | 275 | 3800 |
18 | 265 | 4500 |
25 | 225 | 6000 |
30 | 225 | 6500 |
40 | 210 | 9300 |
50 | 210 | 11000 |
Pictured is a fairly small Jelbart engine, approximately 4 HP.
The Jelbart engine was manufactured by the Jelbart Bros. in
Ballarat between the 1900s and 1930s. They ranged in horsepower
from 4 to 45. They were two cycle and ran on either gasoline,
kerosene or diesel.
The larger size Jelbart engines had cylinder
heads which consisted of two chambers. One chamber was used for
vaporizing the fuel and the inside chamber was the combustion
chamber. the Jelbart engines were fitted with high tension
magnetos, of which many makes were used, but the Bosch magneto
seemed to be the most widely used. The engines were fitted with a
type of hit and miss governor which acted on the air valve to allow
a charge of air and fuel into the crankcase to be compressed and
then into the cylinder head by means of a transfer port. The speed
of the engine could be regulated by means of a spring on the
governor which could be adjusted by either a lever or a setscrew.
These engines are all water-cooled.
I have recently acquired a Jelbart, similar to the one shown,
but is approximately a 6 HP. I hope to have it going for our spring
Rallies. Another engine I have is a Ronaldson & Tippett engine
which is locally manufactured. It is a hot tube ignition engine and
runs on lighting kerosene. I also have a Felix engine, of which
little is known, and a 1-1/2 HP McCormick Deering engine which runs
quite well..
A Petters, two cycle, hot bulb start and ignition compression.
It does not run on diesel, but on kerosene.
The Wonder Ten Waterloo Cement Machinery Corporation, Waterloo,
Iowa, Shop No. 3245, cement mixer. What is the capacity in cubic
feet? What size gas engine ran this mixer?
FARM FILLERS
The average size of the American farm today is 389 acres. In
1960 it was 297 acres.
Realized net income per farm in the U. S. was $5,392 for 1970.
In 1969 it was $5,437.
During 1970 fires destroyed 555,831 acres of Forest
Service-protected lands, the highest in 36 years.
The value of livestock and poultry on American farms was $23.8
billion at the beginning of 1971.
Nearly three-fifths of the rice produced in this country is sold
in the foreign market and about a third of the wheat.
Japan is the leading importer of United States agricultural
products, followed by West Germany, Canada, and the United
Kingdom.